Page 3903 - Week 13 - Tuesday, 29 October 2013
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play but I have heard very positive reports from patients and staff. The reflective garden in the Centenary Hospital for Women and Children, again, is due to the generosity of Mrs Liangis.
Specialist audiovisual equipment allows teleconferences with hospitals in other states and reduces the need for families and young children to travel interstate to see specialists. Bedside monitors and a gigantic electronic whiteboard allow bed-bound patients to participate in hospital school activities. There are recliner chairs, breastfeeding chairs, baby scales, a new ultrasound system, children’s furniture and toys, wheelchairs, refrigerators and warming cabinets, and other educational resources.
Sometimes people say, “Why can’t the health budget stretch to these?” and for many pieces of this equipment it does. But this helps us to purchase more than we have been able to in the past and also is focused on improving the amenity of the hospital. The majority of the health budget goes into staff wages and paying for the services the hospital provides. The foundation is also focused on the amenity.
MADAM SPEAKER: A supplementary question, Ms Berry.
MS BERRY: Minister, are there any other key initiatives at the hospital being supported through philanthropic organisations?
MS GALLAGHER: I thank Ms Berry for the question. One of the standout features of the new Centenary Hospital for Women and Children is going to be the George Gregan playground. George and his wife Erica have been raising money for this project since they set up the foundation back in 2005. This playground is coming at a cost, I think, in the order of $700,000. The George Gregan Foundation is funding that playground.
Again, I have not seen it yet. I look forward to seeing it but this is the fourth playground that the George Gregan Foundation has funded. It has been specially designed by architects, therapists, educators, doctors and patients to provide a tactile, interactive and accessible environment for children and an aid for treating young patients as well.
I would like to thank George and Erica Gregan and those who have made contributions. I look forward to seeing the new playground open shortly in the grounds of the new Centenary Hospital for Women and Children.
MADAM SPEAKER: Supplementary question, Mr Gentleman.
MR GENTLEMAN: Minister, how are members of the community able to be involved in these fundraising activities?
MS GALLAGHER: Again I am shamelessly giving the Canberra Hospital Foundation a plug here today. I think in the last two years—its origins were the Wellness Foundation and it did not get the name recognition that we needed for the foundation; so the simple name change, looking at how the board operates, aligning our staff resources and our fundraising efforts across the hospital has allowed that brand recognition. People are aware that there is a foundation at the hospital; they are
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